1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an electrical connector, and more particularly, to an novel structure of a mounting peg or post for securing an electrical connector to a printed circuit board through a hole in the board.
2. Description of Related Art
It is known to provide electrical connectors with means for securing the connector to a printed circuit board. Often, the connector has a molded thermoplastic housing and boardlock means is formed integral therewith. A typical form of boardlock is a snap latch for securing a connector block or housing to the printed circuit board. The snap latch typically is a molded plastic peg which is bifurcated to define a pair of resilient legs having latching barbs or hooks thereon. The legs, during insertion through a hole in the printed circuit board from a first side of the board, deflect inwardly toward the axis of the snap latch. As the hooks on the ends of the legs pass through the hole in the board, the legs bounce back outwardly into a position with shoulders on the hooks extending beyond the periphery of the hole and engaging a second side of the board, thereby securing the connector to the board. The pegs usually are an integral part of the connector housing or, in some instances, separate metal snap latches have been used.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,378,172 issued to Roberts on Jan. 3, 1995 just discloses such kind of snap latch boardlock. As the legs pass through the hole in the board, the legs snap back outwardly into a position with shoulders on the hooks extending beyond the periphery of the hole and engaging a second side of the board, thereby securing the connector to the board. However, the legs will encounter a deformation while passing through the hole in the board, after bending over some extent in the space between two legs, the problem of breakage is particularly prevalent with the brittle plastic material which presently is used quite often in molding connector housings.
Hence, the present invention is directed to solving this problem in a typical bifurcated mounting peg by limiting the deflection required to install or uninstall the peg into the hole in the circuit board.